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Hannah
Hannah

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Hello! A small introduction from an artist and software engineer

Hello there! This is my first hello to the programming side of the online world.

cartoon self waving

After getting my B.A. and M.A. in Arts and Technology, I wondered what to do with my life. I’ve always been a creative person and had engineering-like qualities of wanting to solve problems and solve them efficiently, but narrowing down what exactly to become skilled in is hard.

After a year of freelancing post-college, I became very frustrated one day. I hit a breaking point when designing a Wordpress site for a client, and realized that I was held back by my lack of technical knowledge. I hated that when I used the pre-made themes and templates, I had so much trouble making small tweaks and customized alterations.

cartoon self smashing computer in anger

When looking at the source code, I realized that if only I knew how all this worked, I would have freedom. It was an "ah-ha" moment. If I knew how to code, I would be free. Free to create what I wanted, free to solve the problems that had been eating away at me when I spent hours staring at the screen.

Over the next few weeks, I had yet another breaking point where I wondered if this meant getting another college degree. I just finished college for crying out loud, I didn’t want to sacrifice yet another 4 or more years just to find a place in life, a career, a meaning. That’s when I came across coding bootcamps, and after hours of discussion with family and friends, and interviewing the bootcamp instructors, I realized that this was exactly what I was looking for. An intense dive into learning skills that would propel me forward, that would build off of what I already know, that would overcome the barrier between my ideas and tangible finished projects. This is what I wanted.

The next few months involved doing prepwork and trying to learn to code on my own (when I wasn’t freelancing and angrily longing for programming skills). I didn’t just like it, I found it addicting. Getting that adrenaline rush when I overcame a logic problem and made something print out correctly on the screen… I knew this was the right path.

cartoon self with a walking stick about to set off on a journey to distance hills

Now I’m in the midst of the bootcamp, coding around 10 to 12 hours a day, a complete novice, and only catching glimpses of just how deep the world of programming might be. I’m extremely excited to see where this path in life will take me, and I look forward to sharing my learning process, philosophical thoughts, and projects along the way with you!

Top comments (3)

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moopet profile image
Ben Sinclair

That's a cool introduction :)

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wolfdominion profile image
Hannah • Edited

Thank you so much for taking the time to read it!

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Ben Sinclair

Well it had such enthusiastic pictures I couldn't not!